Abu Midjan, a Saracen, sings out a strange wish: when he dies, bury him under a grapevine so its wine can soak down and cheer his bones. He says he’d rather rush toward a wine-warmed death than tremble at what comes after. The Prophet hears this and, enraged by such faithless talk, orders him to die in chains, cursed by Allah. Nearby, a captured Christian slave quietly answers, promising to plant a vine on that grave if God wills it. And so it happens—years later, a vine hangs heavy with purple fruit above Abu Midjan’s resting place. But the slave who made it possible? Only Allah knows where he rots. The mood starts almost playful and defiant, then turns quietly haunting. There’s a tender, unresolved ache in the final image: one man gets his lush burial, while the other vanishes into silence, with no marker but the vine itself.
Abu midjan — Summary
When Father Time swings round his scythe, Entomb me 'neath the bounteous vine, So that its juices, red and blithe, May cheer these thirsty bones of mine.
"Elsewise with tears and bated breath Should I survey the life to be. But oh! How should I hail the death That brings that--vinous grace to me!"
So sung the dauntless Saracen, Whereat the Prophet-Chief ordains That, curst of Allah, loathed of men, The faithless one shall die in chains.
But one vile Christian slave that lay A prisoner near that prisoner saith: "God willing, I will plant some day A vine where liest thou in death."
Lo, over Abu Midjan's grave With purpling fruit a vine-tree grows; Where rots the martyred Christian slave Allah, and only Allah, knows!